In an ugly moment that could best be described as a complete freakout, Michael Richards, the actor who played Kramer on "Seinfeld" lost the handle at a comedy club in LA. Captured on video, the rant featured a very generous use of the ‘n’ word and references to lynching. On Monday night Michael Richards was on David Letterman and apologized profusely for his meltdown in a slightly disconnected but more or less genuine mea culpa.
I’m going to be up front here, so hang onto the keyboard, I am going to use the ‘n’ word. Calling someone a nigger is not appropriate. The word is too loaded with emotional, political and power dynamics that go back into a very ugly piece of history.
In my personal memory, black people were hung from trees and beaten to death for no more of a crime that being black. I still remember asking my father why the police were beating the people on TV and being told it was because they were niggers. That didn’t make sense to me. Sure, they were different colours, but they were just people. Later I found a history book or twelve that helped me understand. Not all of it, but at least as much as a white boy growing up in suburban Canada could grasp.
Kids don’t know what race is until they are taught it. Kids recognize visual differences but it doesn’t seem to matter to children, as long as their playmates are fun to play with or have cool toys. I always liked the Nishimura kids down the street, because they had a seemingly endless supply of Super Tonka toys that they would let me play with. I knew they were Japanese; Brian Nishimura told me they were. I could see that their eyes were different from mine and they didn’t get the same kind of tan I got in the summer, but I didn’t know what "Japanese" meant from a sociological, cultural, historical or racial point of view and I didn’t care.
I have used the word nigger myself. I’m not proud of it and I now realize the utter insensitivity, hurtfulness and ignorance of it. Apologizing doesn’t make it right, but that’s the best I can do to make amends.
I also object to persons of colour using nigger to describe other members of their own race, as in the colloquial greeting of "Hey nigger!". It just sits wrong with me. Why do it? Why perpetuate a stereotype and hate words? But, some people of colour believe it is acceptable. This is a shade of the Spike Lee "It’s a black thing, you wouldn’t understand." generalization. Fair enough. I don’t understand. I’d like to understand, but if you think I won’t get it, then I can live with your decision.
What I’m working towards, and not quite getting there yet, is my approach to racism and a suggestion or two of how to react to someone using terms like nigger to describe someone else.
It is hard to put into words because, well, I’m white. British/Irish/Scottish Empire Loyalist Caucasian Canadian Mutt is my ethnic heritage. I come from a long historical line of being on top in terms of money, power, race and oppression. I’ve never been called a racial epithet and never felt the sting, hurt or confusion of being called a racial name.
I have felt like a fish out of water on a number of occasions. Notably in Ha Noi, Viet Nam, where I was a rarity that stuck out. A six-foot tall Canadian on a tiny Honda 90 scooter means you can’t hide. I was stared at occasionally, usually by kids who had never seen someone like me. It never made me feel uncomfortable, but I also knew I had an airline ticket out of Viet Nam. Had I lived there, perhaps it would have been different. I don’t know.
The racial term Caucasian, African, Mongol or Innu is a grouping of physical characteristics that act as a shorthand descriptor from a genetic or anthropological standpoint. There are subsets: Most Norwegians are a different white from someone from Smiths’ Falls, Ontario. We can split those hairs for weeks if you’d like, but the reality is, we’re all of some kind of genetic race, a subset of Homo Sapiens.
We’re also a cultural race, as race and culture are very tightly intertwined. Sometimes it is as simple as dress. People who live in sub-Saharan Africa dress differently from someone in Mississauga. An element is climate based, but mostly it is cultural and that includes religion as part of culture.
Unfortunately humans are very visual animals and we pick up on purely visual clues to make up our minds in hundredths of a second based on what we see and have learned.
The next step is where racism steps in: Seeing another person, then categorizing them, we apply a set of expected behaviors and values to anyone exhibiting certain visual clues, usually with a negative implication, before we make eye contact, or know their name. You can recite as many learned racial stereotypes as I can; there’s no need to list them.
Applying racial stereotypes is the wrong behavior as far as I’m concerned. Since it is a learned behavior, we can unlearn it.
The first step to unlearning is to recognize you are thinking in a stereotype. Just stop and think for a beat. Why did I just pat my wallet, or purse? Was there some obvious threat or reason why I patted my wallet when an Elbonian walked by? What made me think that particular person was Elbonian? Why do I think all Elbonians are pickpockets?
Looking for evidence of the why you feel, or think or react in a certain way forces to you recognize that the ‘evidence’ is non-existent and the stereotype is wrong. All Elbonians are horse-thieves and herring chokers, not pickpockets. I am kidding. Relax.
Part of unlearning stereotypes is also confronting others who use negatives to describe other groups of people. As an example, when Michael Richards went off, the audience voiced their disapproval. Good. They should have. People walked out. Good. They should have. Michael Richards apologized. Good. He should have. People are really upset. Good. They should be.
Better wisdom comes from, I think, George Carlin. Why dislike a group of people for some broad idea, when you should take the time and get to know an individual, then really hate them for something specific?
Perhaps the best wisdom though, comes from two books. The first book is Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work For Racial Justice by Paul Kivel. The second book is whatever religious document you might happen to have some affinity for: Do Unto Others is in there somewhere.
RoadDave 